Small-scale community celebrations, like last year’s Port Kembla Lantern Parade at The Servo, could become easier to organise. Photo: Our Community Project.
Small-scale festivals and concerts may be easier to hold across Wollongong thanks to a push to slash red tape.
On Monday (3 February) Wollongong City Council agreed to work to reduce the number of approval steps event organisers need to go through.
The motion, put forward by Councillor David Brown, proposes temporary events on council managed land be designated as exempt developments.
Event organisers would still need to obtain approval from the council in addition to other licences and permits ahead of time.
The proposal will be forwarded to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for Gateway determination once complete, and if approved will go to community exhibition.
“This is quite a clever policy, and we’re all in favour of cutting red tape,” Cr Brown said.
“It strikes me as similar to a policy we put up a few years ago, a blanket development approval for outdoor dining that individual businesses could ride on the back of.
“It gives people more flexibility to come to us and say, ‘I’ve got an idea; how do I make it happen?’
“At the same time, ways to minimise the impact of events on residents still needs to be demonstrated.”
The council categorises events into four tiers. Tier 1 is 10,000 or more total attendees, Tier 2 is between 5000 and 10,000 total attendees, Tier 3 is between 1000 and 5000 total attendees and Tier 4 is fewer than 1000 total attendees.
Wollongong City Council Lord Mayor Tania Brown said she was hopeful the changes would mean more Tier 4 events popped up throughout the year.
“As a council we fight hard to get those Tier 1 events like the UCI into our city,” she said.
“But for residents it’s things like Culture Mix and the Sprung Festival in Port Kembla that make a difference.
“It’s wonderful to see the community come out and enjoy those events together; they are so important in building community.”
The motion was passed unanimously.
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